Some Edible Fun on a Boring Day (or ANY day!)

On days when you have absolutely nothing to do and you are bored and your kid is bored.. consider making peanut butter playdough. Warning: This is extremely delicious and is really not very good for you, but that's okay because you're bored and you your kid(s) deserves a treat once in a while.

The Recipe:

(I originally found this on Our Best Bites)

1 C creamy peanut butter. I find natural to be too cold and not pliable enough for this.

2 C powdered sugar

1/2 C honey. I like to go a little shy because otherwise it's too sticky.

Pam or other vegetable spray

Combine ingredients. Spray measuring cups before putting in peanut butter and honey. It will make it slide out easier. The mixture will seem crumby at first. That's okay. Just pour it out onto the counter (or table) or a silpat if you are freaked out by the counter. Then form it in a ball/disk with your hands. The warmth of your hands will make it all stick well.

This makes a lot. If it's just one kiddo, half the recipe. Even that is a lot.

HAVE FUN! You can get out the cookie cutters, rolling pins and whatever other tools you want. It is totally edible and delicious so you can eat chunks along the way.

I do not recommend this recipe for babies under 1 year of age. I also do not recommend this recipe as the tester for whether your child is allergic to peanuts/peanut butter.

 

 

Fleece Tie Blanket Tutorial Fun

I have never seen anyone outside of Wisconsin with one of these, but I certainly hope that others do!

This fleece tie blanket is a super easy, fun and cute gift (or keep it for yourself!)

I've been wanting to make one for a long time, but fleece isn't exactly cheap, UNLESS it is 50% at Joann's! Then, it is cheap! You can make one of these blankets for about $10 if it is on sale. And if it's not, use coupons! FYI: All fleece solids and prints are 50% off until December 24th! NICE!

So here goes!

You need:

2 pieces of fleece in colors/prints of choice, 1 yard each

Sharp scissors

A ruler (not pictured)

Trim off any weird edges of the fleece, then place them on top of each other, right sides OUT. For most prints, it doesn't really matter which side is out when it comes to fleece. It doesn't have to be perfect, but get them as even on every side as possible.

The first big move is to cute 4" x 4" squares out of each corner. You can do 3 x 3 or 5 x 5, but I recommend 4 x 4. Again, remember NOTHING has to be PERFECT or EXACT in this project, just CLOSE. : ) Sometimes you get weird edges when you cut fleece. Don't waste your time trying to get every line straight, it really doesn't matter, I promise.

You will get something like this in each corner:

Now you are ready to start cutting!

What you need to do is cut 1" wide strips all the way around the blanket, through both pieces of fleece, about 4" (the length of your squares) long.

Like I said, no perfections here. Don't measure every strip. Just measure one or two at first to get a feel for it. They can be a little wider or a little smaller, just don't get too close to 2" because that would probably end up very weird.

Tip: If you are cutting right to left, hold onto the fabric that hasn't been cut yet and that will keep the fleece taught and easier to cut. If you are cutting left to right, hold onto the strip that you are currently cutting. Examples below:

Another important tip: This requires a lot of cutting. It is going to seem hard at first, but as you go on, it will get easier and faster. However, my hand started to really hurt about halfway through. Genius idea! Use a little square of fleece (from the corners you cut out) and place it between your thumb and the scissors. Ahhh comfort!

Once you are finished cutting, your fleece will look something like this:

 

The next step is where the blanket gets its name. TIME TO TIE.

Start in the corners. Tie the corner strips together. If you start at the corners, you can throw that thing around while you tie the rest and you won't have to worry about it not lining up.

Take one strip from each fleece and knot it together. Try not to tie TOO tight or the blanket will bunch too much and you won't like the finished product.

Tie all the way around the blanket. What I did was I tied every other pair of strips, then turned the blanket over and tied the rest. I'm really not sure if this did anything special.

When you are tying, try not to get the loose ends from previous ties stuck in your new tires. You want all your hard work to be showing!

Your finished product will be a soft, fleecy, yummy blanket- great for gift giving. Mostly for kids, but I wouldn't mind getting one of these! : )

The fish blanket is for Evan.

When I was at Joann's, I saw this panda print and I wanted it so bad, but obviously Evan is not a girl. When I was done with this blanket, I realized that I knew a girl that might really like it, so I went back.

Cute, right?

After all, according to the Red Velvet girls, pandas are really cool right now. And I agree!

Any questions, feel free to shoot it into the comments! I hope you will make one of these for a friend!

If you do, will you show me?

I am linking this project to Jen's @ Tatertots and Jello!
She's having a Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash!

Tutorial Tuesday!

I see so many amazing tutorials in my searching of the blogosphere from crafty things to recipes that I thought maybe I should start sharing some of what I have been spotting! : )

#1- Felt Garland from The Inspired Room
How CUTE and easy, right?! And you could change up the colors and the trinkets? Think all white with a splash of color?

#2- Dish Towel Dog Toy from Real Simple
This is a fun gift for the puppy in your life. And you don't even really have to buy anything if you've got some gently used dish towels laying around, perfect!!

#3- Pom Pom Wreath from The Pleasures of Homemaking
This is just great. I am not making a wreath this year, but next year, I have to. I have seen so many cute wreath ideas, but this is by far my favorite and most fun!

#4- A Glittery Wish Banner from Mustard Seed Creations
I just bought a container of Martha Stewart glitter.. now I know what to do with it!

#5- "Merry and Bright Brown Sugar Butter Buttons" from Tongue-N-Cheeky
I just happened upon this food blog (a hidden obsession of mine) and I'm obsessed with her and these cookies just made it onto my "need to make these too" list.

#6- The White Flower Necklace from creativeyarn
I'm so obsessed with this necklace. If only my crocheting skills were doing well.. something to work on, I suppose!

I hope you think these crafty ladies are as amazing as I do. Please go and visit their blogs and comment and let them know that you stopped by! : )

Welcome to my Holiday Home!

 Welcome to our home!

Today I am joining A LOT of other ladies in sharing their holiday homes over at the Nester's Tour!

I didn't do much that's very fancy this year, but I still love it.

My little Christmas display

Christmas Muppets

 This sign changes with each season and sits above our front closet.

I seriously don't have a photo of our finished tree or our stockings or a lot of other decorations. If I was at home right now, I'd be snapping photos left and right, but I'm not. Tears.

If I remember, I'll come back to update this later tonight. For now, I hope you enjoyed my tour! Thanks for stopping by!

Straws, Awesome Craftiness, Sunday Love

MY KID CAN USE A STRAW!!!

So random, but we gave him a straw a couple weeks ago at a restaurant to try a drink of ours (NON-alcoholic OF COURSE) and he just magically KNEW HOW TO DO IT! He's awesome.

Today, I was totally Super Kitchen Lady. I spent a lot of time in there today. I do that everyday, but today more than ever. For lunch, I made a version of this recipe that Cate @ Sweetnicks posted. It was delicious. Then, I decided to make chocolate covered pretzels. Actually, I decided to do this yesterday when they had samples at Target and Evan liked it.

I'm an idiot and didn't know you were supposed to refrigerate them to get them to harden. They sat out on my counter all day and I kept wondering why in the world they weren't hardening. Then I looked up a "recipe" online and realized my mistake. Whoopsadaisies!

The best part about the past few days though, is that I have been crafting. Copy-cat crafting, but nonetheless, crafting. So I want to share with you a couple of awesome tutorials that I saw and "just had to make right away."

First, Beth @ Stories of A to Z featured Heather @ Pixie Dust. The craft she made was so simple and cute and I had all the items on hand, so I made it. Great thing for everyone else who didn't spend two hours on their Friday night mod-podging a manila folder is that Heather is going to start selling them on Etsy! Be sure to head over to both blogs and comment and let them know how great they are. : )

Here is my version of the manila folder planner:

 

It's not perfect, but I love it and I love the electic feel of the papers I used. It was all I had!

The second craftiness that I had to get at right away was Jessica @ Happy Together's Ribbon Rings.

She made a Whrrl tutorial, which is super awesome and easy to follow. Again, I had all the things I needed to get one together, so I gave it a shot tonight. AND, I learned how to use a needle threader. (I probably should have already known that, huh. I was doing it totally backwards!)

My version (it's for my little sister. Shhh, don't tell her!!!):

a.) Don't look at my hideously bitten fingernails

b.) This photo kind of sucks. The lighting was awkward tonight.

c.) Do you think she'll like it? I hope so!

Tomorrow, I will be joining MANY other bloggers in The Christmas Tour!

How Did it Go?

The whole "NO TV" thing went OKAY. I can't say it went great, because it didn't.
Saturday, we watched NO TV until after dinner when Evan and I watched ELF. The BF was at work 10-8 so it was easy. We went out shopping from around 11-2. Then he napped from 2-4:30, so that helped a lot though. But, I noticed a big change in his behavior and I was happier too.

Sunday was a little worse. The minute we woke up, the TV went on to see the news and watch Sportscenter. Then the BF pretty much lounged all morning watching football. Evan napped from about 10-12:30 because he went to bed later on Saturday night. He was in a MOOD the rest of the day though. Very cranky, didn't want to play. We didn't have any shopping to do or anywhere to go, so we watched a little bit more TV. The kid likes Shrek, a lot. But, around 5:30, we did turn it off until bedtime. Which was good, really good.

Overall, it was a good experience this weekend and I am going to really try to keep the TV off so much in the mornings, though sometimes that is totally out of my control. We don't have a super large place, so the living area is the main play and main TV area. Unfortunate, but that's the way it goes.

ON A BRIGHTER NOTE, I have a really great schedule of posts ready for this week! I usually don't decide ahead of time what I am going to blog, but this week, I am trying it out.

If you'd like to make sure you don't miss these great posts this week, SUBSCRIBE from your Bookmarks tab on your toolbar! I just started using Google Reader (because let's face it, I read like 10000000 blogs) and I love it- give it a try!

Weekend Goal

NO TV

I've been having a problem with keeping the TV on too much lately. Evan won't listen to me if he is watching it. This needs to end. Now.

So, my goal for the weekend (and for all days from now on) is to keep the TV off, or turn it on Sirius. But preferably, I will bring my computer out to the living space and turn on Pandora or iTunes. I need the noise.

It's going to be a rough winter. We are going to have to be inside a lot.

0 degrees is simply too cold for a 1 year old to be outside in for very long.

Wish me luck in this goal. I know it will be difficult, but I think it is necessary.

I'm ready!

My spices and baking shelf is sooo ready for my baking adventures this holiday season.

I've got a lot of cookies to make.

Yesterday on Barefoot Contessa, Ina said something to the effect that her friends believed that gifts should be something that disappear.

I agree. Gifts should be something that people will use or eat.

This Christmas, I have made ornaments and magnets for our family and we are giving cookies to everyone. What's better than a big bag of different kinds of cookies? iPod? Ok, maybe.. But these cookies are going to be great.

1. Snickerdoodles courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

2. Sugar Cookies courtesy of Our Best Bites

3. Chocolate Toffee Sugar Cookies courtesy of Our Best Bites

4. Meyer Lemon Lace Tuilles courtesy of Martha

5. Pecan Meltaways courtesy of Taste of Home

(I didn't take these photos. They are all courtesy of the sites listed. Praise them on their beautiful food photography!)

I am also going to make some cookies filled with Snickers bars. : )

This year, it's just cookies. But lately, I've seen a lot of other great edible gifts. They are filed away for next year.

What kinds of treats are you baking this holiday season? Even if they will just go straight to your belly, as I suspect more than enough of mine will.

Blizzard!!!

 

 

 

  

Is It Hard?

Damn right it is.

Wait, what was the question. Lately, I have had many friends and even family members ask me, "Is it hard to be a student and a mom?" Like I said, damn right it is. When people ask me this, my initial thoughts go something like, "Are you on crack? Of course it's hard. Are you a parent? No." But I'm not a bitch, so I don't say things like this.

What I actually say is something fairly modest like, "Yeah, it's hard. But it's nice. I like to have to get away from each thing and being able to spend the time on myself is nice." What I don't realize when I answer this question is that people really don't get it. And there's nothing wrong with that. I wouldn't have a clue what this life is like if I wasn't living it (DUH, right?!).

So what's it like then?

It's kind of like a whirlwind. My thoughts are constantly racing from one thing to the next. I've got about a zillion thoughts in my head all the time.

It's like living two separate lives. Sure, they interweave, but half my time, I'm a college student and the other half, I'm a parent.

Not only that, but I have to make time for both. I know I said this was a good thing, but it isn't easy. I have to limit the amount of commitment I can give to school activities because I have other obligations. Not that those obligations aren't the absolute best part of my life. Nevertheless, it's hard. I have to spend less time with my baby (of whom I spent a year barely apart from). I have to miss things. I have to give up control to someone else.

Not only that, but my life never stops. I can't stop moving. When I do, I get buried. In dishes. In homework. In life. I have to get things done. If I don't, I won't have another time to do them. Literally. If I don't do the dishes when they need to get done, my kid will freak out and try to play with knives when he is awake. Or if I don't get my papers done when I have free time, there's a chance I won't get free time. Though my kid naps most days, I always have to plan that he won't. I always have to plan for having less time than I do.

So, what types of things do I have to do? What things are SO important that I have to do them right away all the time?

As a mom? I have to make, serve, clean up 3 meals a day, except days I am at school. Then it's only 2. I have to do laundry. Darks. Lights. Towels. Kitchen towels. Sheets. Baby. I have to clean up toys daily. We have a lot of toys and that is an understatement. I have to be responsible for my kid's nutrition. I can't just slap something together. I have to keep my home neat and tidy (ok, I don't have to, but that's how we roll around here). I have to grocery shop, not "pick up some chips at the store" grocery shopping- REAL grocery shopping, with a list and coupons. I have to take my kid places. Because of school right now, I am missing out on Stroller Strides, but I take him to Gymfinity to play 2 hours a week. I'm sure there are plenty more responsibilities, but the most important one of all is that I have to love on and play with my kid. I can't just do my own thing. He needs a lot of attention and he needs a playmate. He needs a teacher.

As a student? I have to go to class. 3 days a week right now. I have to be prepared for those classes, whether it be doing the assigned readings or completing assignments, most of which are papers. I have to actively listen. I have to take notes. I have to retain all that information. I have to take exams. I have to be involved. For me, this means 3 things: Badger Herald, The Sconz and Student Spill. All three of these groups take work. Columns, reviews, helping out other students with their problems. They all mean writing. I have to stay connected. This may not be a requirement, but in my opinion, networking is an important part of the schooling process (and of any process or society or lifestyle really).

Not only am I responsible for all of these things, but I also have personal interests. I don't just do everything for someone else. I like to create things. I like to write my OWN blog. You are already here, I won't like ya. ; ) I have e-mails to respond to, some personal, some professional. I have a few TV shows that I want to watch (okay... many... thank you DVR). I like to read books. I like to shower once in a while. I have a boyfriend and he needs attention too.

So.. yeah, it's hard. But it's also great. I'm thankful to be able to have the opportunities that I do. I'm thankful that my brain isn't stupid. I'm thankful that I have a good support system. I'm thankful that I get to get away from school and from my home. It keeps me on top of things. It keeps me organized. More than all of that, it keeps me happy.